With Friends Like These...
|fgcolor= |name=With Friends Like These... |prev=Char mission: Old Soldiers or Zerus mission: Supreme or Kaldir mission: Enemy Within or Skygeirr Mission: Phantoms of the Void |conc= |next=Conviction |image=Hyperion SC2-HotS Art1.jpg |imgsize=250px |conflict=Second Great War |campaign=''Heart of the Swarm'' |date= |place= |result=Mira Han releases Orlan to Raynor's Raiders |battles= |side1= Raynor's Raiders |side2= Mira's Marauders |side3= Kel-Morian Pirates |side4= |side5= |side6= |commanders1= Captain Matt Horner Crown Prince Valerian Mengsk |commanders2= Mira Han |commanders3= |commanders4= |commanders5= |commanders6= |forces1=''Hyperion'' Tac fighters Valerian's Space Station Wraiths Vikings Battlecruiser |forces2=Mercenary Space Station Ordnance towers Mag mine Merc Starports Valkyries Griffons Battlecruiser |forces3= Pirate capital ship Ordnance towers Mag mine Griffons |forces4= |forces5= |forces6= |casual1= |casual2= |casual3= |casual4= |casual5= |casual6= |client=Matt Horner |reqmissnum= |altmission= |goal=*Defeat Mira's forces *The Hyperion must survive |optgoal=*Collect all minerals *Destroy the pirate capital ship |heroes=''Hyperion'' |mercs= |reward= |newchar= |newunit= |newtech= }} With Friends Like These... is a Heart of the Swarm mission. It is one of two missions in which Sarah Kerrigan plays no role beyond being involved in the mission briefing and the only terran mission in campaign.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. (Activision Blizzard). PC. Mission: Heart of the Swarm, With Friends Like These... (in English). 2013-03-12. Background Captain Matt Horner wanted to find where the Terran Dominion had hidden Commander Jim Raynor. Horner sought the services of Colonel Orlan to hack the Dominion deep-encryption network and locate Raynor. Orlan had previously betrayed the Raiders; he was being held prisoner by Mira Han at Raynor's request. Horner discovered Han would only release Orlan to Raynor - the client - to preserve her reputation. She would not be swayed by the argument that Orlan was needed to free Raynor, or by her "marriage" with Horner. Using Hyperion, the Raiders attacked an asteroid field mining operation belonging to Han. Kel-Morian Combine pirates also operated in the field. The Raiders crippled Han's space station, which convinced her to release Orlan to them. Orlan initially refused to help the Raiders. However, he relented after Crown Prince Valerian Mengsk threatened to return him to Han. Walkthrough The mission plays like a Aeon of Strife-type map. The only controllable unit in the mission is Hyperion. The ship comes with three abilities: jump, launch tac fighters, and the Yamato cannon. Jump is similar to blink and is used to bypass obstacles and to escape enemy fire. Tac fighters are automatic unit similar to interceptors; they may be destroyed but regenerate over time. The Yamato cannon fire a powerful long-range blast; use it to destroy ordnance tower - automated defense platforms that deal heavy damage. Hyperion slowly regenerates health. Repair bots may be picked up throughout the map; these completely restore both ship's health and tac fighter supply. Hyperion may also be levelled up by collecting mineral deposits throughout the map. Levelling up increases the ship's vital statistics, including Yamato cannon damage and the number tac fighters. At level 3, the Yamato cannon destroys ordnance towers in one shot. The three main mineral deposits are marked on the map. Minerals are often guarded by mag mines. Mines activate when Hyperion approaches; they fly in a straight line and attempt to ram the ship. Mines may be destroyed while dormant, but are invincible when in flight. Mines may be avoided using jump. The mission opens with a tutorial introducing Hyperion s three basic abilities, and ending with the destruction of the first ordnance tower. The main part of the mission follows. A friendly station spawns a constant stream of NPC fighters (Wraiths) that automatically advance and attack. North of the second ordnance tower is the first large mineral deposit, sufficient to achieve upgrade Hyperion to level 2. To the south are a few minerals, enough to get to level 3. To the south-east is a dead-end path with a pirate capital ship at the end. The pirate ship has a temporary cloak, fighters, and an area-of-effect electrical pulse ability that disables Hyperion and tac fighters for a few second. Avoid the pulse using jump. Defeating the pirate ship grants Hyperion the electrical pulse ability; it stuns enemy ordnance towers, ships, and mag mines. Stunned mag mines re-target Hyperion when the stun wears off, making them harder to avoid. The path leads north-east toward the second large mineral deposit before turning north-west. At, and leading up to, the bend is a cluster of ordnance towers and bases producing Griffon fighters. The friendly station jumps to the bend once its cleared. The second large mineral deposit, and the small deposits along the north-west passage, is enough to upgrade to level 4. The north-west passage ends at the third large mineral deposit, and then turns north-east again toward the final enemy installation cluster. At the second bend are enemy bases that also produces battlecruisers. Clearing the bend allows the friendly station to jump here, and begin producing friendly battlecruisers. The third large mineral deposit, and the minerals on the final stretch of the path, upgrades Hyperion to level 5 - the final level. The final station produces mag mines, fighters, battlecruisers, and fires missiles. Destroy the station to complete the mission. Videos File:Starcraft 2 With Friends Like These - Brutal Guide! MinedCraft Space Ace! Achievements Notes *In earlier versions of the mission, the Hyperion could also manufacture banshees and point defense drones. Banshees needed minerals to build manually and could only attack structures, but were cloaked, while point defense drones had timed life and could shoot down incoming missile attacks. The Hyperion also had defense matrix and ion thruster abilities; the former gave a temporary shield to absorb damage, and the latter increased speed for a short time. An associated upgrade for ion thrusters increased its range and lowered its cooldown.Blizzard Entertainment. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Map Editor. (Activision Blizzard) (in English). March 12, 2013 *Scattered through the debris and astroids, several Gyrocopters from the Warcraft series can be found. References Category: Heart of the Swarm missions